Yeahh! First chapter of my first fanfiction is complete. I have always wanted a write a fanfic and finally pulled myself together and done something about it. I would like to apologize in advance for any Grammatik mistakes I have made. English is only my second language and even though I feel like I have a great understanding of the foreign language, I am not delusionary enough to think that my writing is perfect. But... I am confident in my abilities, and hope this little project of mine can help me improve my writing. So any kind of critic I welcome with open arms :)

Now enough about that. I am writing a Pokémon fanfiction and I can already promise a few things that will happen.

1. Ash will be more mature than in canon.

2. Ash will be catching lots of different kinds of Pokémon.

3. He will also spend more time training all of his Pokémon, improving their abilities and keeping them in shape and fit for battle.

4. Ash will have a much closer relationship to the legendary Pokémon due to his status as The Chosen One. (Maybe even catch a few?)

5. Misty & Brock will not be traveling with Ash at the beginning of the story. Ash is more independent and doesn't need for Misty and Brock to hold his hand the whole journey. Maybe...and only maybe, I will have Brock join him at some point later on. But if you are looking for a fic with a lot of Misty, you have come to the wrong place. Misty will only make a few appearances in this story (If at all). I have always hated that b**ch!

I hope you enjoy. And please feel free to drop a review if you like.

Chapter 1: How to save a life.

It was another beautiful summer day in Pallet Town. The sun shined brightly and not a single cloud was to be found on the clear blue sky. A boy at the age of 9 was out and enjoying the nice weather by taking a stroll through the forest near Pallet Town. The boy had black hair which was mostly covered by his favorite red and white cap. He wore black jeans and a pair of white shoes on his feet. On his upper body was an unzipped red jacket and a white t-shirt underneath. Ash was the name of the young boy and he was out exploring the forest which was located right next to his home in Pallet Town. His mother wasn't that happy about Ash's small expeditions into the forest, because should a wild Pokémon decide to attack him, he would be completely defenseless since Ash didn't have a Pokémon of his own to protect him. But she was okay with it if he just stayed close to their house and didn't venture too deep into the forest. Ash was okay with that, his mother was just looking out for him and anyway, he didn't have go far at all if he wanted to see Pokémon. The forest was literally crawling with them.

Ash has always been incredibly fascinated by Pokémon. Ever since four years ago when his mother had taken him over to Professor Oak's lab for his 5th birthday. He had spent the whole day at the ranch playing with the Pokémon that lived there. Ash had gotten to play with a pair of Nidoran's both a female and a male, a Pidgey who was a little hesitating at first but quickly warmed up to Ash after he had given it some Pokémon food he had in his pocket, and a very playful and affectionate Eevee who was really enjoying having a human around to scratch it behind the ears. Ash had spent most of the day with the four Pokémon playing games like tag, and hide and seek. It was everything the young Ash could have ever had hope for, he had really enjoyed his first day at Oak's ranch very much and ever since that day he had been visiting Oak's lab at every opportunity he could. Ash couldn't get enough of Pokémon, it was his life. And some day he wanted to become the greatest Pokémon trainer in the world.

Ash walked slowly through the forest, his was eyes shining with excitement at the prospect of maybe seeing some new Pokémon he hadn't seen before. He had already seen a few Weedle's and some Caterpie's moving along the forest floor going on about their daily life's. Most of the Pokémon in the forest had grown used to his presence among them because of the numerous times he had visited over the years.

"I can't wait until I get my Pokémon license" Ash whispered to himself. "Just three more months and I can get my starter and begin my Pokémon journey" A smile graced his face as thoughts about travel the world and catching all different kinds of Pokémon entered his mind.

After a few minutes of walking Ash was startled out of his blissful thoughts when the sound of a high pitched cry reached his ears. Ash immediately stopped walking and started looking around trying to figure out where the sound had come from. It had sounded like a Pokémon but Ash couldn't be sure, he had been so deep in thoughts about which starter he should choose that he had barely noticed it. The cry came once again and Ash quickly turned around and started walking towards it at a fast pace. Ash pushed himself through the trees moving branches and bushes. The sounds started to grow louder and louder as Ash was coming up to a small clearing. Making sure to stay well hidden behind some bushes he took a quick peak from his hiding spot to observe the situation.

A tiny yellow mouse like Pokémon was in a heated battle with a big grey Pokémon which greatly resembled a rhino. The battle didn't seem to go so well for the smaller Pokémon who was hit with a Tackle attack and fell to the ground. Ash recognized them instantly.

'A Pichu and a Rhyhorn. I have to do something, Pichu doesn't stand a chance against a Rhyhorn.' Ash knew that an electric type Pokémon like Pichu couldn't possibly defeat a powerful rock type Pokémon such as Rhyhorn. Pichu is only in its baby stage of the electric mouse evolution line and wasn't particular strong, especially when dealing with a much bigger and stronger opponent such as Rhyhorn, who was already had a heavy advantage over Pichu because of type difference. Ash could only watch with a heavy heart as the Pichu continued to dodge the incoming attacks of the rhinoceros like Pokémon, while trying it's luck a few times with a Thundershok attack. But every effort made was futile as the lightning bolts did little to no damage against Rhyhorn's thick hide, it only made it angrier.

'Wow that Pichu is really strong... and fast too.' Ash thought as he looked at the Pichu in awe as it continued to skillfully dodge all incoming attack from the grey rhino with superior speed. 'And it can use Thunderbolt! That's a surprise. Normally Pichu's are too young and not skilled enough to store electric power in its body. But this one seems to have no trouble doing it at all. Sure it wasn't particular strong electric attacks, but still for a Pichu to be able to do it at all was quite a feat'

Rhyhorn charged at the tiny mouse once again and Pichu was hit once more by a Tackle and hit the ground hard, just narrowly dodging an incoming Horn Attack by rolling quickly to the side. The Pichu was quickly back on its feet, panting heavily.

'That Pichu is badly hurt and exhausted from the fighting and won't last much longer. I have to do something or else Pichu can end up seriously injured.' It was a time like this Ash wished he had his own Pokémon so that he could fend off the Rhyhorn, but that was unfortunately only wishful thinking.

'What am I going to do? I don't stand a better chance against Rhyhorn than Pichu does' Ash gulped from just imagining the kind of damage the big rhinoceros Pokémon could inflict upon him.

The young boy tried franticly to come up with a plan to help the Pichu, but every scenario he drew up in his mind would only end badly for the 9 year old. 'Attacking the Rhyhorn head-on would be a big mistake. Maybe with a bit of luck I can distract it somehow, and with its attention turned elsewhere I can rush in and grab Pichu.' Ash knew that it was a long shot, but he couldn't just stand here and do nothing while Pichu was fighting for its life. Ash closed his eyes and took a deep breath trying to calm his nerves. He didn't know much about this species of Pokémon, but one thing Ash did know was that it was very fast compared to himself and chances of him outrunning it should it give chase, where very slim. 'Okay... maybe a lot of luck'

Ash started searching around the forest floor for anything he could use to draw its attention, while making sure to keep himself hidden from the view of the two Pokémon by dropping down to one knee.

'Bingo!' Ash whispered to himself as he found to well sized rocks and picked them up in his hand. He crept alongside some bushes until he got closer to the battle. Ash slowing rose from the forest floor and hid himself behind a big tree at the edge of the clearing.

"Pii!" a loud yell of pain sounded from the battlefield and Ash sneaked a peak from his position behind the tree. Pichu was laying on the ground with only one of its eyes opened and close to losing consciousness, and Rhyhorn was only a few meters away from the downed Pokémon preparing to launch the final attack.

Ash decided it was now or never and threw one of the rocks high into the air toward the Rhyhorn. The rock traveled through the air at a high speed and hit a tree behind the big Pokémon resulting in a loud noise. Rhyhorn was startled by the interruption and gazed behind him trying to find the source but found none and quickly deemed it unimportant and turned its head back toward the Pichu who was still laying unmoving on the ground.

"Damn" Ash swore quietly, seeing the little effect it had. He decided to give it another shot and threw his last rock in the same fashion as before and quickly sought cover behind the tree again. This time however the Rhyhorn seemed a little threatened by the unidentified noise and figured that the Pichu wouldn't be running anywhere, so the big rock Pokémon turned it's whole body around and started moving towards where the sound had emerged from with cautionary steps until it disappeared behind some trees.

Ash nearly jumped in joy at his plan turning into success but stopped himself. There was more pressing matters that he needed to attend to. Celebration could wait for later when Pichu was safe and sound. Ash abandoned his hiding place behind the tree and quickly ran towards the injured Pokémon.

Pichu immediately noticed the human coming towards him. He panicked and tried to rise from its position on the grass but it's body wouldn't let him. Scared out of its mind since it had never been particular trusting towards humans. Pichu tried a last resort by firing a Thundershock attack towards the boy, but again failed as it was too weakened after it's fight with the Rhyhorn so only a few small sparks of electricity emerged from its red cheeks. It could only lay there defenseless and watch as the human boy came closer and closer.

"Don't worry Pichu, I'm not going to hurt you." Ash said in a calm voice and with a gentle smile upon his face. He bended down on one knee and scooped Pichu up in his arms, taking great care not to course it more pain. "My name is Ash Ketchum and I will take care of you. I promise I will get you back to health in no time"

Pichu was in a really bad state but managed to let out a small whimper in response. He looked the human boy deep into his brown eyes with a look of confusion on its face. Pichu was very puzzled to why this unknown boy would try to help him. He had always been told by its mother that all humans was dangerous and that they should be avoided at all cost. Pichu had been in a few encounters with humans before in the past, but had always succeeded in escaping them due to its great speed. All those humans only wanted to rip it from its family and capture it in one those scary balls they carried around. But this human boy in front of him was ...different. Pichu actually felt a sense of security laying in his arms which confused it greatly. Somehow he just knew that he could trust this young human boy. Not that it had much choice in the matter.

Ash looked at the small electric mouse in his arms and saw it close its eyes and fall asleep with its head resting against his chest. Ash quickly started to run back towards Pallet Town. He ran through the forest as fast as his legs could carry him, dodging various tree branches and bushes that got in his path.

Ash was panting heavily since he wasn't used to running so fast for such a long period of time, but he couldn't afford to stop for anything. The life of the Pokémon in his arms was literally in his hands, and Ash was determinate to do everything in his power to save it.

Ash was about halfway through the forest when he heard a loud sound echoing in the trees of something big and heavy running in the distance. He stopped for a second and turned around to see what was going on, when his face suddenly took a look fear as he saw the Rhyhorn from earlier making its way towards him at a furious pace knocking down trees and everything else that got in its way.

'Damn... and here I was hoping that Rhyhorn was too lazy to track me down' Ash cursed his bad luck and wasted no time trying to gain as much distance between himself and the raging rock Pokémon.

Ash kept running as fast as humanly possible through the forest, while holding the still passed out Pichu securely in his arms. Ash kept running, jumping over a few bushes here and there and trying his best to dodge the leaves of the trees that got in his path. Ash could hear the furious rock Pokémon behind him getting closer and the closer, it was gaining on him very fast and Ash knew that it would take a miracle to get out of his current predicament.

'YES! almost there' Ash could see what looked to be the edge of the forest up ahead. Ash rushed past the last remaining tress, but to his great surprise, the only thing that that met him at the other side was a dead end. Ash tried to stop but he only had a few meters to work and was unable stop in time before tumbling over the edge of the cliff.

The Rhyhorn bust through the trees with a menacing growl and entered the space where Ash and Pichu had been only seconds ago. It looked around trying to find them with its head moving quickly from side to side. It's anger soon turned into confusion when it was unable to find the humanboy and the small rodent anywhere. Rhyhorn let out an angry roar and stomped the ground a few time in frustration.

"Rhyy!" A roar sounded yet again from the furious rock Pokémon, and after a few moments it calming down and finally gave up on the hunt and slowly returned back to the forest from where it came.

Ash was hanging with his left arm suspended over his head, and with his hand holding tightly around a thick branch. With an incredibly stroke of luck Ash had been able to grab on to a branch of a tree root that was sticking out of the mountain side. Ash held on to the branch with his dear life, not believing how close he and Pichu had been to failing to their deaths. He took a few shaky breathes and tried to calm his rapid beating heart there was beating a mile a minute.

Ash moved his head downwards and stared at his stretched right arm that was holding an very awake and slightly panicking Pichu by its tail. Pichu had awoken during the fall and Ash had only just been able to grab it by the tail when it had slipped out of his arms.

"Calm down Pichu, I can't hold on if you keep moving." Ash yelled to the small Pokémon who was crying and waving it's small arms like crazy. "I won't let you go... I promise. Just please trust me and do everything I tell you, and I promise we will get us out of this."

Pichu calmed down slightly and let out a small "Pichuu!" in agreement with a fearful expression upon its face. Ash's mouth twisted up in a relieved smile, happy that he was able to make the electric mouse relax somewhat despite the current situation.

"Okay Pichu, now I am going to lift you up to my right shoulder. Just try to grab on to it and attach yourself when you can. But you have to keep completely still, okay?" Ash yelled and the Pichu gave a small nod in understanding. Ash slowly started to lift Pichu up by its tail until they were on eye level. The plan went without a hitch and Pichu settled itself nicely on Ash's shoulder. Ash now with his right arm started climbing up the hill side with Pichu securely clinging to his shoulder.

It took some time but finally Ash and Pichu made it to the top. Ash crawled slowly over the edge of the cliff and rolled on to his back and looked up at the sky panting exhaustedly.

"That was a little too close for comfort." Ash murmured from his position on the grass with Pichu laying on his stomach equally out of breathe. He broke his gaze from the sky and turned his head toward the small mouse that was resting on top of him.

"Are you okay?" He asked in a low voice full of concern.

Pichu opened its eyes and stared at the human who had not only once, but twice saved his life. He was simply dumbfounded by the actions of the boy and didn't know what to think of this whole mess. It just gave a tiny nod in response.

Ash wrapped his arms around the rodent Pokémon and got up on his feet. The forest was oddly quiet and there was no sign of the Rhyhorn that had pursuit them earlier. 'It properly thinks we are dead. For a moment there even I thought we were done for too.' He looked towards the horizon and saw the sun still high in the air, casting a beautiful grow all around the landscape.

A loud shrieking noise sounded from somewhere in the clouds. Ash turned his head to sky and his eyes widened beyond belief when he saw a phoenix like Pokémon flying gracefully across the sky, with a beautiful golden glow as it left a rainbow behind it.

"Ho-oh" Ash breathed out as he stood there rooted to ground and watched the legendary Pokémon in awe. He continued to watch the majestic fire-type Pokémon as it soared through the sky until it disappeared again behind some clouds away from view.

Ash didn't know how long he just stood there staring at the sky, he could hardly believe what had just seen. Never in his wildest dreams thought that he would see a legendary Pokémon, and stood there looking up at the sky in awe to where Ho-oh had been seconds ago.

"Pokémon are Awesome!" He exclaimed loudly with a large smile on his face. He starred down at the Pichu in his arms wondering when it would wake up. He thought about if he should try and wake the small Pokémon up, but he decided against it and instead started walking towards the forest. He was really starting to feel tired from all the running and life threatening saturations. He didn't even know how long he had been out here in the forest and couldn't wait to get home to Pallet Town.